DALLAS & FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The preliminary schedule of sessions and speakers has been announced for the Controversies in Childbirth Conference ( www.birthconference.org), the first-ever open forum for voicing diverse opinions in timely discussion and debate, to be held March 27-29, at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

 

"This is a one-of-a-kind event focusing on why providers and hospital should — or should not — continue to deliver babies," said Alan J. Huber, founder/director of the Conference. "We will make news and change minds as a wide range of healthcare professionals and advocates focus on urgent issues in childbirth today.

 

"It seems there is a birth conference of-the-week in the U.S., but none offer the diversity of speakers and opinions of the attendees we will draw," he said. "This is not for ‘birth conference junkies’, but for a diversified mix of birth care providers, including: obstetricians, neonatologists, family physicians, certified nurse midwives, certified professional midwives, nurses, doulas, educators, lawyers, and hospital administrators.

 

Controversies in Childbirth is a unique and comprehensive event, standing alone in representing all viewpoints of those truly serious about making important changes today!

 

"Controversies," he said, "is timely and long overdue."

 

The preliminary list of sessions and speakers (session/speaker updates on Web site) includes:

 

Is There Any Benefit to Low C-Section Rates? Stu Fishbein, MD, FACOG, Pauline McDonaugh, president, Elective Cesarean Network, and Pan Udy, president, ICAN;

 

Hurdles Facing Birth Practitioners and Facilities. Scott Ransom, DO, MPH, FACOG, and president, University of North Texas Health Science Center;

 

Why OBs Own or "Backup" Birth Centers? Kenneth Blau, MD, FACOG, Connecticut Childbirth & Women’s Center;

 

Homebirth in the Hospital: Integrating Natural Childbirth with Modern Medicine. Stacey M. Kerr, MD FAAFP;

 

Do Natural Birth Advocates Hurt their Own Cause? Karen Fennel, MS RN

Techniques and Safety Guidelines for In-Hospital Vaginal Breeches. Michael Hall, MD FACOG;

 

Centering Pregnancy: Improving Delivery of Prenatal Care. Sharon Schindler Rising, CNM, FACNMIs;

 

Statutes that Allow Providers to Accommodate Patients’ Needs and Desires. Max R. Price, JD, law firm of Max R. Price PA.

 

The Great Home Birth Debate. speakers TBA;

 

Who Will Deliver Tomorrow’s Babies, and How to Manage These Practitioners? Kevin Haeberle, JD, executive vice president, Integrated Healthcare Strategies;

 

Birth Models that Work. Robbie Davis-Floyd, Ph.D., FSFAA, senior research fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas;

 

Case Studies on How Hospitals are Coping with the Financial Realities of Maternity Care. Becky Harde, NC, MS, HCAD, director of Women and Children’s Services, Baylor All Saints, and Richard Morris, former administrator, Pascack Valley Hospital;

 

How a Nursing School Trains Birth Companions to Support Mothers Before, During and After Childbirth. Elizabeth Taylor Jorden, DNSC, RNC, John Hopkins University School of Nursing;

 

New Concepts in Malpractice for Birth Professionals. Rick Lindsey, CEO, Prime Insurance Company;

 

Improving Pre-Natal Care for At-Risk Women. Jennie Joseph, LM CPM;

Should Doulas be Certified? Susan Martinson, CD, DONA, and Shannon Mitchell;

 

Don’t Confuse Me with The Facts: How Obstetricians Ignore Data in their Quest for Healthy Mothers and Babies. Marjorie Greenfield, MD, FACOG, associate professor OB/GYN, Case Western Reserve University;

 

Are Cesareans Causing Premature Deliveries and Adding to NICU Costs? Lucky Jain, MD/MBA, executive vice chairmen Pediatrics Emory University;

 

Does an Erosion of Abortion Rights Erode a Woman’s Birth Rights? Lynn Paltrow, JD, executive director, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), and Kathy Ruse JD;

 

The Myth of Obstetric Malpractice: Is Defensive Medicine Based on Wrong Assumptions? Louise-Marie Roth PH.D., professor of Sociology, University of Arizona;

 

Our Patients Have Seen the Movies: What Should We Do Next? Deborah Pascali Bonaro, doula/doula trainer, and producer-director of "Orgasmic Birth."

 

Attention Business-Healthcare Editors/Bloggers: Alan. Huber is available for interviews "with no agenda, no axe to grind, other than working to ensure that actions are taken to achieve and maintain the highest standards possible for childbirth in America." He can also provide access to Conference speakers/experts to media.

 

SOURCE: Business of Birth International

Business of Birth International 
Alan J. Huber, 512-709-4022 
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or 
The Kaminer Group 
David A. Kaminer, 914-684-1934 
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